


Pensieves Past

by lilyevansJan30



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Love/Hate, Male-Female Friendship, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Memories, Pensieves (Harry Potter), Romantic Friendship, Slow Romance, ginny - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28384467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyevansJan30/pseuds/lilyevansJan30
Summary: Harry has never quite understood how his parents went from hating each other to falling in love.  Luckily, Sirius and Remus left him some memories to help him see the truth.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 15
Kudos: 43





	1. Remus

**Author's Note:**

> Bits and pieces of "Snapes Worst Memory" were taken verbatim from that chapter of Order of the Phoenix. I did not write those bits, although any changes are my own.

The attic is dusty and dim, even with the extra lamps Harry conjured, but Ginny doesn’t mind. Harry’s excitement is infectious, despite the grime, and she grabs at the box nearest to her and tugs it closer.Across the room, Harry is carefully leafing through a stack of old photo albums, pulling out any pictures with an image of Sirius before dumping the rest into a large rusty caldron they’d found up here.Every so often he sets the contents on fire, the blaze temporarily adding light and heat to the space.It’s an oddly cozy gesture, especially when the expected rain finally begins to fall, tapping and then pounding against the slanted ceiling just above them. 

Harry picks up another album and blows off the dust.“1974,” he says, flipping it open.“So Sirius would have been . . . fourteen?”

Harry’s voice is deceptively casual and Ginny knows he’s hoping to see his father among the pictures.She makes a noncommittal sound; from what she’s learned of the Blacks, they were not the sort to have snapped candid photos of their son with his friends - at least, not _this_ son and not _these_ friends. She opens the top of the box in front of her.It seems to be full of tightly packed squares of cardboard and she has to squeeze her fingers between two of them to pull one out.To her surprise, it’s decorated with a number of odd creatures - two crowned and winged lions flank a large letter “Q”, which itself is below something that might be a cross between a raven and a serpent, holding onto a crab.There are a couple of small fairies at the bottom of the scene and the words “Queen: A Day At The Races” below that.It looks thoroughly magical - except for the fact that none of the images are moving.Ginny holds it up.

“What’s this, do you think?”

Ginny recognizes the slightest hint of disappointment on Harry’s face as he tosses the 1974 album into the cauldron intact and shoots a flame inside.He turns to her.“I’m sorry, what?”

Ginny walks over to him.“This . . . thing,” she says vaguely.“Something about a queen, but it’s got gryphons and fairies on it too.Do you know what it is?”

Harry looks curiously at the square for a second and then smiles in recognition.“It’s a record album,” he says.“I think Dudley might have had a few, although by the time he was old enough to break his stereo, It was mostly cds.”He holds out his hand and Ginny gives him the album.“It’s to play music - Muggle music. Each album cover had a different picture on it.” He peers at the drawing.“I have no idea what this means though.Where did you find it?”

Ginny points.“There’s an entire box of them over there.”

“I guess Sirius was into Muggle music as much as Muggle motorcycles.”Harry looks around the attic."There must something to play them on- look for a rectangular box with a circle on top and a thin arm crossing it.”He walks back to the box of albums and pulls out a few more.“A lot of Queen.And Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John - I’ve heard of some of these.The Eagles - I think they’re from America.”He grins.“It would be fun to listen to some of this; I don’t know much about Muggle music.”

“Can’t be as good as the Weird Sisters,” says Ginny, naming her favorite band.She pushes aside a dressmaker’s mannequin, still wearing a set of moldy Slytherin robes. Apparently the Blacks hadn’t deigned to go all the way to Diagon Alley for their fittings.A small box catches her eye.“This is strange,” she says, reaching down.“There’s a little chest here; it looks brand new.”

“Don’t touch it!” says Harry harshly.In an instant he’s pushed her out of the way and contained the small rosewood box inside a number of wards. “Did you?” he asks.“Did you touch it?” His voice is terse.

Ginny shakes her head in the negative.“I didn’t think . . .” she begins.She takes a deep breath.“I should have known better.”

Harry lowers his wand.“It’s okay, I should have warned you to watch out for anything that looks out of place; the last time we tried to clean out Grimmauld Place we ended up tossing one of the Horcruxes.”He grimaces. 

“And that music box that almost put us all to sleep,” she says, remembering.

Harry kisses her. “Until you were clever enough to close it.”

Ginny peers at the box inside the wards.“Do you think this is another one?” 

Harry shakes his head. “It looks too new.And anyway, I think this is where the Blacks stored most of their non-Dark stuff; the Death Eaters didn’t even bother searching up here when they came through.”He carefully takes down the wards around the box.“Might just have a dust repelling charm on it.I can check.”He shoots a revealing spell.

Immediately, a small piece of parchment slips through a crack in the side of the box and floats over to Harry.He stares at it for a moment and then plucks it out of the air.Ginny sees his hand shake.

“It’s . . . it’s from Sirius. I’d recognize his handwriting anywhere.”He quickly scans the lines.“And Remus.”He suddenly darts forward and grabs up the box, cradling it in his hands as if it is a baby.His face is nearly white.“I need my Pensieve.”

HPHPHPHP

Harry is grateful that Ginny doesn’t ask any questions, just follows him down the ladder from the attic.He’s put a number of protections on the box before carrying it into his bedroom; it wouldn’t do to drop it now.Silently, he hands Ginny the note and watches her read it. 

_Harry, Remus and I realize that we may not have said enough of the right things when you asked us about your father’s teenage behavior.We got caught up in our memories, and our love for your dad, and well, we forgot that you need something more to know him.Snivellus - okay fine, Remus is making me write Severus - his memory should absolutely not be the only time you get to see your father and mother together.There was more to that day, and of course, to your mum and dad, than the opinion of someone whose opinion shouldn’t matter at all.And doesn’t matter.So here are some better memories, and, dare we say, some more accurate ones._

_It’s Remus here now, Harry. You must remember, what you saw in Professor Snape’s Pensieve was his perspective of what happened that day.The mind is a curious thing, and fills in blanks the way it believes about reality when the truth is often different.We wanted to show you that day from a more accurate perspective, as well as a few other moments about your mum and dad that we think really show who they are.You deserve to understand how wonderful both of your parents were, and how perfect they were for each other. There’s an Order meeting soon, so we’ve only got time for a few memories right now, but we’ll add more soon.We’re going to hide them away until things are a little more . . . settled, and you have time to appreciate everything._

_And . . . maybe you’ll have someone special of your own to watch with you by then. (This is Sirius again, Harry)If you don’t understand, come ask me and I’ll be sure to smack some sense into you about a certain witch I think you need to pay more attention to.Remember, your father liked redheads . . . Okay, fine - Remus thinks I’m saying too much already, but I think Remus is being entirely too cautious about many things. I may need to smack some sense into him as well._

_There’s a spell on the box so that only you can open it.Password is “Prongs and Lily”, of course.We love you,_

_Sirius and Remus. April 1995_

Harry can hardly breathe.All thoughts of cleaning the attic are forgotten as he pulls his Pensieve off his shelf.

“Do you want me to stay?” Ginny is still holding the note.

Harry blinks at her.“Of course,” he says, confused.He’s already told her - ages ago - the story of what he’d seen in Snape’s memories.She knows it’s always bothered him, despite what Sirius and Remus had tried to tell him at the time.They were right in the note; their responses had felt too indulgent of his father to offer Harry much comfort.“I want you to see it,” he tells her now.“If you want to.”He puts the Pensieve on the bed and closes the space between him and Ginny.She kisses him first, and then deepens it.Harry lets himself melt into her. 

“I do want to see it,” she says when they finally break apart.Harry is almost feeling conflicted with wanting to continue things in this vein - almost.He gives her a rueful smile. 

“Later,” he says, playing with the bottom of her jumper.“We’ll listen to some of Sirius’ music.”

They sit next to each other on the bed and Harry opens the box.Two plain glass bottles lie nestled inside, one marked with a hasty “S” and one with a somewhat neater “R”.Harry swallows, seeing them. 

Ginny reaches out and touches Harry’s cheek.“This is going to be a good thing,” she says.

Harry nods; he knows that, of course.And Ginny knows he knows.But it’s good to hear anyway.

“I want to see my dad and mum again,” he admits.He thinks for a minute, and then picks up the “R” bottle first.Ginny looks at him and he shrugs.

“I think it will be easier,” he says.He’s not sure if that’s why; part of him wants to save Sirius’ memories for last because he’s looking forward to them the most.But he recognizes that if Snape’s memories had been unfairly biased against his father, Sirius’s were likely to lean too far the other way.Remus would have tried to try to be as honest as possible for Harry’s sake.

He tips the bottle into the Pensieve and gives the thoughts a quick jab with his wand before grabbing Ginny’s hand and leaning in to the bowl.

HPHPHPHP

They landed in the prefects bathroom and Harry looked around in confusion that they weren’t in the OWL exams, until he realized that of course, Remus wouldn’t have known exactly where Snape’s memory began. His father and Lupin were by the sinks; James had his foot up on a bench and the bottom of his trousers rolled up while Remus bent down and peered at something Harry couldn’t see.He tugged on Ginny’s hand.“This way,” he said, moving closer.

“Fucking Snivellus,” James said.“If I can’t play on Saturday I swear I’m going to kill him . . . and even if I can play he’d better watch his back for the rest of the term.”

“I didn’t realize you needed your shins to be intact to ride a broom,” said Remus mildly.He touched the end of his wand to James’ leg, which Harry could see was bruised and swollen almost from ankle to knee.“I’m not sure of the exact curse he used but I think I’ll be able to get this sorted.Do you remember if he said _subgillorio_ or suggillorio?”

“I don’t know, I was trying to keep him from doing more damage at the time,” said James petulantly.“I barely got a single good jinx in before he cursed me.”He flexed his arm convulsively, as if hexing an unseen enemy.“And where does he get off, inventing these Dark spells?” He shook his head.“He shouldn’t be breaking the rules like that.”

“Just like we shouldn’t?” asked Remus lightly.He gave James’ shin another poke and James gave an involuntary jerk.

“Ouch, not so hard there, Rem.”He twisted to look at his friend.“And you know it’s completely different.What we’re doing is to help you out.What he’s doing is dangerous; it’s evil, and shouldn’t be allowed.” 

James spoke bitterly and Harry felt a stab of recognition. He leaned towards Ginny even though he knew there was no one else there to overhear.“Sirius and Remus told me how much my father hated dark magic,” he said.He liked seeing it proven though.Someone who hated the dark arts as much as his father did couldn’t be as much of a prat as the person he’d seen in Snape’s memory, right? His father was completely different than Snape, who, at least in his teen years, seemed without any redeeming characteristics.

The scene changed, and immediately Harry stiffened.

“What?” asked Ginny.And then a second later, “Is this . . . ohhh.”

“Yeah,” Harry muttered. “Makes sense that Lupin would show me his memories instead of Sirius’s.” He felt uncomfortable butterflies in the pit of his stomach as he watched James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter Pettigrew settle under the beech tree.“Lupin and Sirius said in their note that I shouldn’t only trust Snape’s memory, but when I asked them in person after I saw it, they didn’t deny a lot of it either.” 

Ginny squeezed his arm.“Let’s see what Remus remembers then,” she said.

The first thing Harry noticed was that he couldn’t see Snape.In the man’s own memory, he’d been hidden in the shadows of some bushes and hadn’t caught the attention of James and Sirius until he’d emerged and walked across their path.Now Harry frowned. 

“Snape’s in those bushes there,” he said to Ginny, nodding at them.“Going over the questions from his DADA OWL.I don’t know how he could have heard exactly what they were saying over here; in his memory he was completely engrossed in his test.” His father pulled the Snitch out of his pocket and Sirius asked him where he’d gotten it.

“It’s been flying wonky,” James said casually, throwing it up in the air and catching it neatly.“We can’t use it for practice.” 

“That’s different,” said Harry.“Snape thought he’d nicked it.”He crept forward, trying to find the best place to stand so that he could hear everything the four boys were saying but still keep an eye on the place he knew Snape would emerge.

James ruffled his hair, looking down at the girls by the edge of the lake after he made a particularly good catch, and Harry smiled.“That’s the same, though.He played with his hair all the time.”

“Probably would happen in any memory of him then,” said Ginny.

“I’m bored,” said Sirius.“Wish it was the full moon.”

“You might,” said Lupin darkly from behind his book. “We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me . . .Here.”He held out his book.

“That’s what Sirius said in Snape’s memory too,” Harry said.“That he was bored.And then my father pointed out Snape.”

“There he is,” said Ginny.He’d emerged from the bushes.Lupin looked up from his Transfiguration book as James and Sirius rose to their feet and advanced on Snape, who was stowing his test paper away while looking carefully around from underneath the shock of hair falling limply across his face.

The next moment happened so quickly Harry almost missed it. Snape pulled out his wand just as his father did, the spell he tried to cast drowned out by James’ _Expelliarmus,_ only a hair of a second faster. Snape’s wand flew off into the grass and he growled in frustration and glared at James, giving him a purely malevolent look.

“Did you see that?” Harry spoke excitedly to Ginny.“My dad didn’t attack him completely out of the blue; Snape had his wand out too.And my dad used _Expelliarmus_ \- that’s not a dangerous spell.I bet Snape was going to curse him - look how angry he is.”Harry felt a strange spark of relief.

“You don’t know what Snape was going to say,” Ginny reminded Harry gently.They watched as Sirius tripped Snape with _Impedimenta_ and he and James teased him about his greasy nose.

“That’s the same as before,” said Harry quietly.“They seem to like making fun of him.” 

“They do,” Ginny agreed.Harry was grateful she didn’t try to soften it.He was uncomfortably reminded of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something that flitted at the edges of his mind.Shaking the thought away, he watched Snape try to throw off Sirius’ curse.

Like in his own memory, Snape was again spouting a stream of swears and hexes, his wand still too far away to have any effect.But this time Harry recognized a few. 

“Those aren’t all mere annoyances,” he muttered to Ginny. That first one’s the _Suffocasia_ curse - it takes away your breath for an uncomfortably long time; if done poorly it causes the victim to faint.And _Subgillorio -_ that’s the one he did to my dad’s leg before, that made him limp for weeks.”Harry shook his head.It wasn’t entirely fair of him to be happy that Snape seemed to want to really hurt his father and Sirius.It caused the same sort of uncomfortable feeling Harry’d had after he had attacked Malfoy with _Sectumsempra_.He’d been defending himself against what was likely to be an Unforgivable (and Harry hadn’t known how bad his own spell was going to be), but he’d only felt partly okay about injuring Draco before Draco could hurt him.And Snape didn’t even have his wand. . .

And then Lily was there, yelling at James to leave Snape alone.

“All right, Evans?” James asked as he had before, again his voice deepened and became more pleasant. 

Lily rolled her eyes.“Leave him alone.Please,” she said to James.“What’s he done to you?”

James appeared to consider her question. “Well, he tried to hex me,” he pointed out.“But it’s also the fact that he _exists,_ if you know what I mean . . .”

“I know you think you’re funny,” said Lily. She sounded more annoyed than angry this time, Harry thought. “If you weren’t always such an arrogant toerag, Potter, maybe more people would like at least some of your jokes.”She looked down at Snape, who was still struggling to throw off the Impediment Jinx.“Leave him _alone_.”

“I will if you’ll go out with me, Evans,” said James quickly.“Go on . . . Go out with me, and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.I’ll be funnier too, I promise.”

“I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid,” said Lily.Her mouth twitched though.

“Bad luck, Prongs,” said Sirius briskly, turning back to Snape. “OY!”

Sirius and Lily yelled a warning at the same time, but it was too late. Snape directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a deep gash appeared on the side of James’s face, making him yelp and spattering his robes with blood.

“Fuck!” James yelled.There was another flash of light and like Harry had seen before, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants.

“Oh my,” said Ginny.Harry realized she’d never seen _Levicorpus_ performed before. 

“It was a common hex back then,” he said quickly.“Not dangerous; everyone got hung upside down at some point.”He felt the need to explain away the state of Snape’s underwear.He should have been better prepared, Harry thought.“Everyone knew it was a risk,” he said again.Lily stared for a moment at James's face before telling him to let Snape go; a moment later he dropped to the ground

But Ginny was shaking her head. “Your dad’s still bleeding,” she said.“What kind of curse was that?”

“Not a very fair one,” said Harry, feeling warm at Ginny’s response.“Snape invented a lot of those when he was at Hogwarts.”He watched Sirius use _Locomotor Mortis_ and Snape fall over again.“It _was_ two against one though,” he allowed, feeling suddenly guilty. Lily yelled at James to take the curse off and James immediately complied. 

“There you go,” he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again, “you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus —“

Harry stiffened, knowing what was coming.

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!”

“Lily stepped back as though she’d been slapped.“Fine,” she said, and her voice wavered more than Harry remembered.“I won’t bother in the future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus.”_

Again, James yelled at Snape to apologize, and again Lily told James that she didn’t want _him_ to make Snape apologize. “You’re as bad as he is. . . “

“What?” yelped James.“I’d NEVER call you a — you-know-what!”He was horrified by Lily’s comparison, Harry could tell.

Lily shrugged. “Almost as bad then,” she said.“Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off that that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it.You make me CRAZY.”

She turned on her heel and hurried away.

“What is it with her?” said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.It was though, Harry knew; his father looked stunned.

“Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate,” said Sirius. He looked sympathetically at his friend as if he knew exactly what Lily’s words had meant to James.

“Right,” said James, who looked both furious and devastated now. “Right —-“ There was another flash of light and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air.

“Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?”

Last time, the adult Snape had interrupted the memory before Harry had been able to see what happened.This time, it was Lupin who spoke.“James,” he said, giving him the smallest shake of his head.

James seemed to deflate.“ _Liberacorpus_ ,” he muttered.Snape fell back to the ground but James didn’t see; he’d already turned back to the castle.

Sirius looked down at Snape as if to assure himself that he wasn’t going to hex James in the back.“Prongs,” he called.

James ignored him and Sirius turned to Lupin instead, a questioning look on his face. 

“Let him go,” said Remus.

The memory swirled away and Ginny looked at Harry, waiting.He tried to gather his thoughts. 

“It wasn’t . . . quite as bad,” he finally said.“I mean, it was bad, but at least Snape was trying to hurt my father too.”Harry gave a mirthless laugh.“As if that makes it so much better.”

“Your father never hexed to really injure though, did he?” said Ginny thoughtfully.“I mean, it was pretty obvious that by this point, Snape and your father and Sirius had quite a history together and yet, your father still refused to do anything really Dark.”

“It’s because he knew humiliation would upset Snape more, I think,” said Harry.He suddenly realized what had been bothering him.“Like with Malfoy.He used to make fun of Ron and your family, you know.Because you didn’t have any money.It upset Ron a lot more than any damage Malfoy did with his wand.” He hated having to admit that his father could be anything like Draco Malfoy, but he knew it was true.

“This was the day that broke Lily and Snape’s friendship, wasn’t it?”Ginny was still thinking.“Snape did that himself; he’d been getting darker and more aligned with the Death Eaters for years. It wasn’t anything your father did.”She put her hand on Harry’s arm.“She may have hated that James was coming to her defense in that moment, but really, she was mostly upset with Snape.”Ginny gave Harry a pointed look.“After all, it didn’t break the way Lily felt about him, did it?If anything, they started becoming closer.”

Harry looked at Ginny doubtfully.“Maybe,” he said slowly.“But I still can’t see how.She was really, really angry at my dad, just now.”He closed his eyes for a moment. “Although . . . yes.”He opened them again.“In Snape’s version of the memory, my mum said that my father made her ‘sick’.Here she said he made her ‘crazy’.That’s a little better, isn’t it?” 

“It’s a lot better,” assured Ginny.“Don’t get me wrong, I think Sirius was right that Lily thought your dad was conceited as anything, but I think it frustrated her; it didn’t make her hate him.”She put her hand on Harry’s cheek.“If she’d hated him, she’d have just ignored him.”

Harry felt the knot in his chest that had been there since the scene started loosen just a bit.“I still want to see how it changed,” he said.

“I bet there’s a Sixth Year memory next,” said Ginny.

Harry was still trying to process everything when the scene changed to reveal that he and Ginny were standing in the corner of the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory.It must have been the first day of term because an opened trunk stood at the end of each of the four beds, all looking in various stages of being unpacked. For a moment Harry thought Ginny was right, and this was the beginning of the following school year - their sixth.But then his father walked into the room, stopping just inside the door, and the look on his face made Harry pause. 

It was clear that more than a few months had passed since the previous scene; James was taller and more filled out across the shoulders.Next to Harry, Ginny made an appreciative sound.“He’s rather good looking, isn’t he?”

Harry gave her an amused look.“That’s my father, you realize.” 

Ginny shrugged.“So is it any wonder I think he’s handsome?You’re half him after all.” 

“He looks worried,” said Harry.Indeed, James was still standing in the doorway, looking around uncertainly and rolling around something in his hand that Harry thought might be the Snitch.He wasn’t throwing it in the air and catching it though, and Harry wondered if that was because Peter wasn’t there to show off for.He followed his father’s gaze.

“Lupin must be here,” he said to Ginny.A moment later a voice spoke from one of the beds.

“Are you finally ready to tell me why you’ve been nearly ignoring me since King’s Cross?” Remus was leaning against the pillows piled at the end of his bed, an open book in his lap.He didn’t sound angry; in fact, Harry had the feeling that he knew exactly what James was about to say.

James twisted his hands again; it was an uncharacteristic gesture for him, at least as far as Harry knew.Ginny nudged him.“You do that too, with your hands,” she said.“When you feel guilty about something.”

Harry didn’t deny it.He stepped closer to his father, wondering what was upsetting him.He somehow knew it wasn’t Lily this time.The gold thing in his hand wasn’t a Snitch, but a disk with “HB” engraved on the front. Lupin saw it the same moment as Harry.He nodded at it and then looked at James.

“I’m really okay about it, Prongs,” he said gently.

“It should have been you,” James burst out, flopping down on his own bed.He seemed relieved to say it.“I don’t know what Dumbledore was thinking.”

“Do we ever?” chuckled Remus. He sat up and looked seriously at James.“If I’m not going to spend the rest of the year dwelling on it then you aren’t allowed to either.”

“But you would be so much better at it,” said James.He seemed determined to press his point.“When have I ever done anything that would make Dumbledore think I won’t make a complete pants of everything?” He looked challengingly at Lupin.

“You practically captained Quidditch last year when Graves ended up in St. Mungo’s after he poisoned himself,” pointed out Remus. 

“Exactly!” exclaimed James.“So why not make it formal this year?I’d know what I was doing, at least.”He tossed the Head Boy badge on his bedside table.“Lily’s going to think I’m an idiot.”

“She hasn’t thought you’re an idiot since Fifth Year,” said Lupin, giving James a slight smirk.“Start of Sixth at the latest.And you seemed to do all right at the prefect’s meeting on the train.”

“I was mostly following her lead,” said James. “And I felt like a fraud, talking about how important it is for the prefects to set a good example about following the rules. Everyone knows how often I break them.” 

Harry suspected that there was no one else - not even Sirius - with whom his father would have been so honest. He understood; Lupin had been the keeper of some of Harry’s secrets as well, and had always proven to be a good, and thoughtful listener. Even when Harry had yelled at him for abandoning his family, Remus had taken the words to heart and changed his behavior.No wonder James trusted him now. 

“I’ve broken nearly as many rules as you,” Remus pointed out.“And let’s be honest, a poor Head Boy I’d be, missing several days every single month.That wouldn’t be fair to Lily.”

“She’d handle it just fine,” said James stubbornly. He ruffled his hair. “She’s going to be brilliant at it, and she’d probably rather have you, even dealing with your ‘furry little problem’ every month, than me.”He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow with a groan before looking back up.“We were just starting to become friends too - real friends.And now I’m going to have a million chances to bollocks it up.”

James sounded so dejected that Harry nearly felt sorry for him, despite the fact that he knew exactly how wrong his father’s worries were.He whispered to Ginny.“He really does seem to have grown up a bit, doesn’t he?”

“More than a bit,” Ginny murmured back. 

“Is that what you’re really worried about?” asked Lupin.“Messing things up with Lily or messing things up as Head Boy?”

“They’re one and the same,” said James.If I’m a terrible Head Boy, I’ll be letting everyone at Hogwarts down, and Lily’s at the top of that list.”He shook his head.“And even if I figure out what to do eventually, it’ll ruin our friendship in the meantime and I’ll never get the chance to show her that I . . . that I know what I’m doing and I’m not a complete conceited prat.”He put his hand over his eyes. 

Remus threw a pillow at him.“I think you’re underestimating yourself, mate.You’re already halfway there, knowing that you want to be a good Head Boy.The James I knew two years ago would have just assumed he’d be excellent without even having to try.”

Harry suspected that last bit was something Remus might have added for Harry’s own benefit, still, it seemed to affect his father too.James sat up suddenly.

“I’m not going to let it happen; mucking up things, I mean.”He picked up the badge off his night table and carefully pinned it on his robes, sounding much more determined than he had a moment ago.“If I have to work twice as hard at it then that’s what I’ll do.I won’t let Lily spend the year shouldering more of the burden because I’m being a screw up.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Remus with a smile.He glanced at the doorway.“I’m sure Lily will be happy to hear that.”

“Oh hell, I’m not telling her,” said James quickly.“She’ll just think I’m being cocky and overconfident.”He stood up.“I’ll just let her come to see it for herself.”He grimaced.“I hope.”He held out his hand.“So, no hard feelings?”

Remus stood up and swatted away James’ hand.“Don’t be a prat, Potter,” he said fondly.“You’re going to be brilliant.”

James smiled.“Thank you, Remus,” he said quietly.“That means a lot.”

Remus shrugged.“I told you back in fifth year; I can never repay you blokes for what you did for me. I’d be a pretty poor friend if I let something like the selection of Head Boy get in the way.”

James chuckled.“Dumbledore was right to select you as prefect back then, Moony,” he said.“Looks like maybe you did succeed in getting us to grow up a bit.”He gave a small frown.“Or me, at least; I’m going to have to have a talk with Padfoot.If I’m going to be a proper Head Boy I can’t be going about breaking rules all the time anymore.”

“I’m sure that will be a conversation that both you and Sirius should have sooner rather than later,” Remus said.“I daresay he might still have it in his head that having his best mate as Head Boy is only going to lessen his chances of getting caught.”

James nodded.“You’re right,” he said.“I’d better go find him; I think I saw him with Marlene and Lily earlier.”He disappeared quickly out the door and Harry heard him make a sound of surprise.

“Evans!” Harry could not mistake the nerves in his father’s voice.“I didn’t know . . . I was just coming to find . . . d’you know where Sirius is?”

Ginny leaned in.“And again, he sounds like you when you’re nervous; you tend to babble too.”

“To be accurate, I think I sound like him,” said Harry.He grinned at her.“It’s kind of brilliant, isn’t it?”

Ginny wrapped her arms around him.“It is.”

Lily and James walked back into the dormitory and Harry’s heart gave a little thump, seeing his parents together.Lily didn’t look even the slightest bit annoyed with James; she seemed thoughtful to Harry.She touched James lightly on the arm.

“I was coming to find you; Dumbledore wants to hear how the meeting on the train went,” she said. 

James nodded quickly.“Sounds good, yes, I’m ready right now.”He pointed at his robes.“I have my badge on and everything.”

Ginny snorted just as Lily gave James an amused look.“Oh, you are soo like your father, Harry,” Ginny said. He grinned at her and watched his mother nod at his father.

“That’s good to see, Potter,” she said seriously.Harry saw her mouth twitch.“I just need to talk to Remus for a minute about . . . potions.Can you go down to the common room?There are a couple of first years who seemed nervous about classes starting tomorrow; maybe you could talk to them?”

“Oh, are you going to help brew Moony’s . . .” James began.He stopped himself and nodded.“Right.The first years.I’ll just go talk to them then, okay?And then wait for you there?”

Lily nodded and smiled.“Sounds perfect,” she said. 

James gave her a pleased smile.“Okay then,” he said.He nodded at Remus.“Thanks, mate,” he said.

Remus nodded back.“Remember what I said; you’ll be brilliant.”

James departed.Lupin leaned towards the door listening for a moment and then turned to Lily.“How much did you hear?”

“Enough,” she said. The look on Lily's face was approving and Harry squeezed Ginny’s hand.“He really is taking this seriously, isn’t he?" Lily said. "I’d hoped that he would, but . . .” she shook her head.“And not only because he used to fancy me; I think he really does want to do a good job.”

“He does,” Remus nodded.“But Lily, you have to know that James still fancies you, despite what he said about finally being your friend.”

Lily blushed, and Ginny gave a small squeal of excitement.“Do you see that?” she whispered?”

Harry nodded, watching his mother. 

“I think it will be a good thing,” Lily said.“You heard James; he doesn’t want to mess this up.”She gave Remus a shy smile.“And neither do I.”


	2. Sirius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You're My Home" is entirely from Billy Joel, Piano Man

The last of Remus's memories faded away and Harry and Ginny rose together out of the Pensieve without speaking.Carefully, Harry returned Remus’ memories to their vial and put it back in the box.He knew he would want to see them again.

“I’ll show them to Teddy, when he’s old enough.”Harry’s voice was thick. 

“That will be such a gift for him,” Ginny agreed.Harry nodded.

“It is for me,” he said quietly.“That’s the most time I’ve ever spent with my mum and dad, even if they don’t know it.”He knew Ginny understood he meant to sound grateful and not bitter.

“Remus told us he was meant to be a positive influence on your father and Sirius,” she said.“It was good to see that in person.” 

Harry’s mind was elsewhere.“And my mum, she did really grow to be friends with my dad,” he said.“When I saw Snape’s memory I honestly worried for a while that he must have given her a love potion.” He gave Ginny a wry grin. “Luckily by the time I learned from Dumbledore that that’s what Voldemort’s mother likely had done to Tom Riddle Sr. for real, I had stopped worrying about it, mostly.”

Ginny put her hand on his cheek and Harry leaned into the touch.“But not entirely, until now.”

Harry nodded.“I didn’t really think my dad had put a spell on my mum,” he said. “But I couldn’t completely imagine how they went from how they were their Fifth Year to falling in love.The photos I have of them, the ones Hagrid found, were the only real proof that they got there, somehow.”

“And you,” said Ginny with a smile.“I’d say you’re pretty good proof.”

Harry knocked his hip against hers.“You’re getting dangerously close to talking about what my parents had to do to have me,” he said.“While I do like seeing that my mum did not, in fact, hate my father, there are certain things I’d rather stayed a mystery.”He nodded at the box.“And I want to see what Sirius left me.I think his perspective will be . . .”He stopped.“I’m actually not sure what I think.”Memories of his brief time with Sirius swirled through Harry’s head.Molly had accused Sirius of treating Harry too much like James, but Harry himself had never felt that way.He couldn’t blame his godfather for looking for memories of his best mate and to be honest, Harry had loved being able to provide them.If Sirius thought Harry was like James, that only made him more real to Harry - proof that his dad had been an actual living and thinking and loving person, someone who’d really _existed_ to pass down his traits to his son.

“You said that you don’t that Sirius’s memories will be as accurate as Lupin’s were,” said Ginny gently.She was cautioning Harry not to put too many expectations on what he was about to see, he knew.He squeezed her hand.

“I know,” he said.“But Sirius gave me these memories as an adult; I hope and expect he tried to be more fair than if he’d given them to me when he was sixteen.”Nevertheless, Harry reminded himself to keep an eye on the perspective.He took Ginny’s hand and leaned over the bowl.

They were back sometime in Fifth Year, Harry thought.James and Sirius were walking across the grounds looking more or less like they did the day of their OWLs.It was earlier though; the trees were mostly bare of leaves and both boys wore warm cloaks over their robes.And they were arguing. 

At first Harry wasn’t sure what he was seeing.He’d never heard his godfather talk about his father in anything other than glowing terms and he’d never considered how many moments there were in the two boys’ lives together that Harry didn’t know about.That they would do something as normal as have a row - much like him and Ron - made his father feel that much more real.

“. . . not funny, Sirius!You crossed a line there.”James sounded frustrated and Harry got the impression that he hadn’t been able to convince Sirius of whatever they were talking about.

“That greasy git deserved it after what he did to you,” said Sirius.He didn’t sound sorry at all.“I mean, look at you James- two weeks later and you’re still limping!What kind of Dark spell was that, anyway?Remus said he’d never seen it before.”

“So I’ll hex him back,” said James.“Again.”He shook his head.“Not put him in danger of getting bitten or killed.”

They were talking about the prank Sirius had tried to pull on Snape, Harry realized. Dumbledore had told Harry that Snape hated his father because James had once saved his life; it had been several more years before Harry had learned the only reason Snape’s life had needed saving was because Sirius had sent him to the Shrieking Shack during the full moon.Knowing what he did about the Marauders during their Hogwarts years, Harry wasn’t terribly surprised to hear how unrepentant Sirius sounded.What was new was hearing James vehemently disagree with his best friend. 

Sirius made a dismissive gesture.“You’re overreacting; Prongs and Padfoot could have handled it.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Now James sounded properly angry.“We’ve managed to transform exactly one time so far!I think it’s brilliant that we can spend time with Remus now but if Snape had gotten all the way down the passage I don’t think our being there would have stopped Moony from attacking.”He shook his head.“And how do you think Remus would have felt, knowing he bit someone, even someone as repulsive as Snivellus?”James gave Sirius a pointed look.“What has Remus said to you about your little idea?”

Sirius squirmed under James’ gaze.“He’s still recovering; I didn’t want to bother him.”

“You can bet Snape has already ‘bothered’ Dumbledore about it; do you really want Remus to hear it first from the headmaster?Or Snape?And Peter’s probably dying to say something.”James crossed his arms, not about to give an inch.“Not to mention the fact that Lupin being a werewolf will probably be all over school by tomorrow.”

Sirius looked torn between continuing to plead his position and giving in, and again, Harry knew he was seeing a side of his father he reserved for very few.James never would have argued with Sirius if anyone else had been around; Harry was certain of it. And Sirius wouldn’t have listened to anyone criticize him besides James.His father’s words stung, Harry could tell. Apparently James could tell too.He put his hand on Sirius’ arm and this time his tone was gentle.

“Talk to Moony, Padfoot.You owe it tohim.” 

  
Sirius gave a quick nod and then sighed.“Okay.”His expression became mulish again.“But I’m not apologizing to Snivellus unless he apologizes to you first.” He gestured at James’ leg.“And we both know he won’t.” 

James grinned and Harry saw some of the tension leave his shoulders. “Of course you don’t have to,” he agreed.“Although Dumbledore probably has something to say about that.”

Sirius shrugged. “That’s different,” he said. “If Dumbledore makes me do it.”

“Glad to see you have your priorities straight there at least,” said James. 

Sirius sighed.“I hate it when you’re right,” he said.He looked out across the darkening grounds towards the castle.“I’d better go talk to Remus; he’s only in the hospital wing another night.”His lips tightened.“I hope no one else has gotten to him yet.”

“I wish I could have asked Sirius about that,” Harry said quietly as the scene swirled away in front of them and a new one began to form. “He despised Snape until the day he died and he never knew that Snape was trying to save my life.” He looked at Ginny.“Do you think that would have made a difference?”

“Absolutely,” said Ginny with conviction.“Sirius would have hated feeling indebted to Snape, but even more he’d have felt grateful to him.”She leaned against him.“But surely you know that.”

“I do,” said Harry.“And I bet my dad hated having to fight with Sirius on behalf of Snape.But he did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.”Ginny made a sound of agreement. 

“That says a lot,” she said.“Not that it means Sirius was a bad person for doing the wrong thing,” she added quickly.“But he was just . . .”

“I know,” said Harry.“I think Sirius couldn’t understand Snape’s passion for the Dark Arts, after Sirius had given up so much to escape that life.For my dad, yes, he hated Snape because of Snape’s devotion to dark magic, but also, Snape had something he wanted - my mum’s friendship, at least for a while.It was a different kind of rivalry there.”Something occurred to him.“Do you think he stopped Snape from going to the Shack because he thought it would impress my mum?”He waved his wand to keep the next scene from forming for a few more seconds.He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, that James might not have really cared about protecting Snape as much as looking good in front of Lily.

“No,” said Ginny resolutely.She looked Harry in the eye as if she knew exactly where his thoughts had gone.“I really don’t.You heard James.He understood that Sirius had gone too far.”She shook her head.“I don’t think he was was thinking of Lily at all in that moment.He was thinking of Snape, and Remus.”

“Thank you,” Harry murmured against her hair.“I know you’re right but I’m glad to hear you say it.” He brushed a hand down her side.“They weren’t the same person, Sirius and my dad,” he said. 

“They weren’t,” agreed Ginny.“But I can see how it’s easy to think that, not knowing your dad at all.You filled in the blanks with Sirius, the way he treated you and the stories he told.”

“You’re brilliant,” Harry told her.“That’s exactly what I did.”He felt better, and peered into the swirling mist.

Harry was surprised to see the next scene open with Sirius, James and Lily sitting together in the common room much the way Harry had often done with Ron and Hermione.He looked carefully for clues about when this one took place; the three were a bit older than the memories from Fifth Year and after a moment he nodded to himself.

“My mum’s still a prefect,” he said to Ginny, pointing out the small badge on her lapel.“This must be their Sixth Year.”He realized how much he’d wanted to see memories from this time, something to bridge the gap between the bullying of Snape and his parents’ courtship.

“They look comfortable with each other,” Ginny agreed.“Or at least, more comfortable than inthe earlier memory.”

“Lily’s . . . my mum’s eyes,” he said, peering at her face. “They’re red, aren’t they?She looks upset, but . . . not at them?”From what Harry had already seen, he doubted his mother would be crying in front of Sirius and James if they’d been the ones to cause it.She’d yell, or maybe ignore them.Harry wasn’t quite sure yet.He and Ginny walked closer.

“What’s she holding?” asked Ginny, pointing.“That paper?” 

“It’s a letter,” Harry told her.“A Muggle letter.See the stamps?”

“What are stamps?” asked Ginny. 

Harry snorted.“Remind me to tell you the story about your brother and stamps sometime,” he said.But now Lily was speaking and Harry and Ginny both got quiet.

“It’s stupid of me to care,” she said.“Tuney has always been weird about . . . all this,” she said, holding up her wand and gesturing around the common room.“But she usually doesn’t say much beyond telling me to keep any frogs I brought home out of her room.She thinks my studies are a waste.” 

Personally, Harry thought his mum was being rather charitable in her description of Petunia.She’d never hidden from Harry her opinion that she thought the wizarding world, and that included Lily, was full of freaks.It was part jealousy, Harry knew, but her hatred for everything magical was certainly not fake.

“What about your parents, do they?” James looked seriously at Lily.“Do they think magic is a waste?”His voice was full of incredulous sympathy and Harry smiled to himself.James was clearly upset to think that Lily’s parents might not like having a witch in the house.For a moment Harry considered how appalled James would have been to learn of Harry’s treatment by the Dursleys.A second later he sighed; if James had been alive to know, Harry never would have been sent there.

But Lily was shaking her head.“Oh no, they love it,” she said.“Think it’s brilliant and ask plenty of questions.It’s just Petunia.”She bit her lip and James leaned forward.He looked about to put his hand on Lily’s knee but then pulled it back at the last second.Ginny gave a tiny snort.“Coward,” she said under her breath.Harry grinned, watching his father.

“What it is, Evans?”

Lily looked around, even though there was no one else in the common room.“She wrote Dumbledore,” she said.“Asking if she could go to Hogwarts too.” She was quiet for a moment. 

“Severus found the letter.”

“What an arse,” muttered Sirius immediately.Lily gave him a withering look. 

“Please, just don’t,” she said. She didn’t try to defend Snape and after a moment, Sirius nodded.

“Sorry,” he said.

James leaned in again and this time he did touch Lily’s knee.“Did your sister find out that Sniv . . . that Snape found the letter?”he asked.

Harry focused on the fact that his mum didn’t shrug off his father’s touch.She nodded. “And that I’d seen it too,” she said.“It was right before I went to Hogwarts for the first time.”She looked down at her hands.“She called me a freak.”

Harry could see that Sirius was about to make another biting comment, this time likely about Lily’s sister, but James caught his eye and gave the slightest shake of his head.Sirius shut his mouth.

“I’m sure she doesn’t really think you’re a freak,” said James.“She’s probably just jealous.”

Lily gave a small nod of agreement and James grinned over her bowed head at Sirius. 

“Good one, dad,” Harry said under his breath.Ginny gave him a fond smile. 

“That’s what I thought, at first,” said Lily.She twisted her hands and the paper between them crinkled.“Mostly we avoided talking about it.I know she listened though, when I talked to my parents about my studies, and the castle, and the friends I’d made, so I thought that she’d come around, eventually.They asked her about uni too; it wasn’t just me getting all the attention.”Lily sounded as though it was something she knew Petunia would have cared about. Her voice dropped.“But she met someone this fall, and he came over for Christmas lunch.”Lily’s mouth twisted.“Vernon, his name is.Vernon Dursley.” 

“Sounds gastly,” said James, and then looked quickly at Lily as if insulting Petunia’s boyfriend was as prohibited as insulting Snape. But Lily gave him a watery smile.“He is,” she said, with some vehemence.“You have no idea.”

“But I do,” muttered Harry.Again he was struck with imagining what his parents would have thought about him being raised by the Dursleys,His mother had apparently taken Vernon’s measure immediately, and for a moment, Harry was caught in the thoroughly contradictory thought that he was relieved his parents hadn’t been alive to see it.

James looked even more pleased at Lily’s agreement and Harry focused on that instead.

“She asked me to hide that I’m a witch,” said Lily.“Although she didn’t actually say that; she asked me to hide ‘what I am,’ from Vernon.”Lily made a face.“Of course I was not going say anything; the Statute of Secrecy prevented it,” she said. “But Tuney didn’t seem to believe me; seemed to think that I’d slip somehow and ruin everything with her new boyfriend.She was so mean about it., said that if Vernon found out, I’d be sorry.”

Without consciously thinking about it, Harry waved his wand and froze the scene, blood pounding in his ears.

“What is it?” Ginny asked.They’d been holding hands the entire time but now she turnedto face Harry, putting her other hand on his shoulder.She waited until he’d looked away from the swirling mist and at her instead. 

“It’s what they always said to me,” Harry said grimly. “That if I told anyone I was a wizard, I’d be in trouble.”He looked at his mother’s tearstained face and had no trouble imagining exactly how Petunia had sounded when she’d ordered Lily not to reveal her magic.If Petunia had been jealous and petty before, meeting Vernon had made her _mean_.“He gave her the excuse to really accept that my mum was a freak,” he said.More realization dawned.“And Petunia liked being validated.”For a brief moment Harry wondered when exactly Petunia had told Vernon the truth about Lily, and how he’d taken it.For all he knew, she’d intended to keep the secret forever, only forced to give it up when Harry had arrived on their doorstep.Harry shook his head. It didn’t matter; he never intended to see the Dursley’s again.What mattered at that moment was what Petunia had done to make his mother cry, all those years ago.He unfroze the memory.

“And did she threaten your parents too?” James’s voice was cold with disbelief that a child might treat their parents that way. 

Lily shrugged.“My mum’s sick, you know,” she said, and Harry saw tears threaten again.“I think that’s why Tuney brought Vernon home.”She shook her head.“She’s barely known him two months,” she said bitterly.“And she’s putting him before me without a thought.”Lily held up the letter.“That’s what she wrote me, that she ‘thinks it would be better if we didn’t spend time together while she was with Vernon, if I’m going to insist on pursuing this nonsense about what I think I am.’” She gave James and Sirius an incredulous look.“She really said that, as if I’d made a stupid choice to be a witch and I could just un-make it, if I really wanted.”She looked from James to Sirius.“My own sister, how could she do that?”

James looked about to answer and then snapped his mouth shut, just as Sirius leaned forward.

“It’s the worst when it’s someone who’s supposed to love you, isn’t it?” he asked gently, more reserved than Harry had heard him yet in these memories.He watched James give his friend a quick smile of thanks for understanding how to talk to Lily about problems with family.Sirius patted her knee, opposite the one where James’s hand was still resting. 

“We’re two sides of the same Galleon here, aren’t we, Evans?” said Sirius.“Your sister wants you to deny who you are to make her happy and my family . . . they don’t think I accept who I am nearly enough.” Sirius shook his head to himself and Harry had a flash of remembering his godfather’s name, blasted off the enormous family tapestry at Grimmauld Place.Taking down that tapestry and burning it was one of the first things Harry had done when he’d moved in after the war. 

“They both despise the fact that we associate with the wrong sorts,” Lily agreed.“I just never thought Petunia would reject me so quickly and easily, especially for someone like that arse.”She gave a watery snort.“He looks like a pig, stuffed into trousers.”

“So does his son, and had a tail to match,” Harry muttered to Ginny as he watched his father squeeze his mother’s knee and her give him a small smile of thanks. 

“We’ll be your family here, if you need it, Evans,” James said quickly.“Sirius is like a brother to me, since I don’t have one.”

“And James is like a brother to me, since mine is a boot licking pureblood elitist,” said Sirius bitterly.“And the Potters have practically adopted me.”He gave James an openly grateful look,more vulnerable than Harry could have imagined.He realized that if this was sixth year, Sirius must have only recently left home for good.Even more than James, Sirius likely understood what Lily was going through.

James cuffed Sirius on the arm.“Glad to have you, mate,” he said roughly.A look passed between the two boys and Harry felt a thump of recognition at how important the friendship had been for both of them.James smiled again at Lily.“Sirius and I make good brothers."

Ginny shifted next to Harry and made an amused sound.He looked away from the scene and at her for a moment.“What’s funny?” he asked.

“You’ll see in a moment, I suspect,” said Ginny.She grinned up at Harry.“I think your father’s about to discover he’s just dug himself into a hole.”

Sirius seemed to realize it first; his solemn expression morphing into a more familiar smirk.“That’s it,” he said.“Think of James and I as your brothers, Evans, and you’ll be just fine.”

There were many moments among these memories that Harry would watch over and over across the years, but he always said that the next few seconds of this one remained his favorite. It wasn’t the realization on James’s face that he’d just told the girl he’d fancied for years to think of him like a brother.That made him laugh, of course, and when his and Ginny’s children became old enough, it made them laugh too.But the moment Harry loved more than any other was because of Lily.As Sirius’s words sunk in, she flicked her eyes to James and a moment later, her tongue darted out across her lip and she gave a tiny, involuntary shake of her head.

That first time, Harry thought maybe he’d imagined it.Lily leaned in towards James and then back, biting her lip and looking back and forth between him and Sirius.Ginny made another sound.

“Apparently your mum doesn’t like that hole either,” she observed, pointing.“See how she’s leaning towards your father?There are feelings there.”

“It’s only the middle of Sixth Year,” Harry said, wanting to believe it.“Are you sure?”

Ginny gave Harry a fond look.“You’re talking to someone who’s an expert in loving from afar, remember?Lily may not understand it yet, but she will. And she definitely does not like to think of James as a brother.”

Indeed, a moment later Lily found her voice.“I think I’ll leave the brotherly thing to the two of you,” she said carefully.“But I could really use some friends.”She looked directly at James.“Good . . . friends.”

Harry grimaced.“Is saying she wants to be his friend any better than brother?” he asked.

“It is the way she said it,” assured Ginny.She wrapped her arms around his neck.“Given that we both know they end up together, I’d think you’d have a bit more trust in my analysis.” 

Harry leaned down and kissed her.“It was hard enough for me, having feelings for you and not being able to act on them,” he said.“Who’d have thought it would be equally hard to watch my parents?”

Ginny kissed him back, angling her body against his so that for a moment, Harry didn’t think about anything else. “I think it’s going to get easier,” she said, moving slowly away from him as the memories swirled to form the next one.

“Another few seconds touching me like that and it won’t be able to get any harder,” Harry joked. He was spared Ginny’s groaning response as the next scene solidified into place.

It was also in the Gryffindor common room but obviously a different time.Instead of January snow flying outside the windows Harry saw a few orange and yellow leaves blow by - October maybe?It was Seventh Year; both James and Lily were wearing their Head’s badges.More importantly, they were sitting cuddled together on one of the sofas, Lily’s legs spread across James’s lap, and grinning rather stupidly at each other. 

Harry didn’t realize he was holding his wand up, keeping the scene from moving forward so that he could stare at the obvious proof of his parents as a couple, until Ginny touched his arm.“See?” she asked.“I told you it would work out.”

Harry grinned sheepishly and let the memory continue.“I should have trusted you,”He looked at his parents again.“I see Sirius and Lupin and Peter, so I’m going to assume he’s not showing us anything that involved an interruption of something I’d really rather not see.” He looked at the others sprawled on various sofas and chairs.“Who are they?”There were two girls in the scene too; both dressed in the type of clothing Harry associated with 70s fashion - one wore wide bottomed jeans and a tie-dye shirt and the other in a short plaid jumper with big earrings.Ginny peered at them.

“I’ve seen them before; in photos of the Order,” she said.“I think the tall one is Marlene McKinnon.The other must be Dorcas Meadows, her girlfriend.”Ginny pursed her lips.“Both killed by Voldemort or his followers,” she said.

Harry didn’t want to think about that right now; there would be time to consider their futures at another point. For now he was more interested in seeing his parents together and hear what they had to say.

He waved his wand to make the scene proceed.

“I don’t care what you say, you’re going to tell us eventually.”Sirius sounded quite confident.

“Isn’t it enough that it happened? James asked.“You’ve been telling me for weeks not to hide my true feelings; and it should be enough that I didn’t.”

Sirius leaned forward. “Not nearly enough,” he said.He looked at the two other girls. “D’you think think it’s enough?”

“Hell no,” said the one Harry thought was Marlene.“Just last week Lily was lamenting the fact that James had switched his night to do rounds so that he wasn’t with her.”

“That’s because I had a huge Transfiguration test to revise for!” said James quickly. He grabbed Lily’s hand.“I told you that, right?And you said it was okay.Not to mention that I came to find you as soon as I was done.”

Lily gave James a soft pat on the arm and then left it there. “You did” she agreed.“I wasn’t upset at all.”She gave her friend a pointed took.“That’s Marlene’s opinion.”

Marlene huffed.“You were insisting that there was nothing but friendship between the two of you,” she said.“I believe your exact words were, ‘James and I are just friends.Good friends.And I don’t want to mess things up.’”She gave her friend a pointed look.“So what happened?”

Harry couldn’t miss the intimacy of the look that passed between Lily and James. He touched her cheek and gave her a crooked grin that Harry had seen before in other memories, but never directed at his mum the way James was looking at her now.It was the way he suspected he looked at Ginny.

“We listened to music,” James said.‘“And started talking.”

“We talked all night.” Lily took up the narrative.“About everything.And nothing.”

“Those are the best talks,” said Marlene dreamily.“What did you listen to?”

James and Lily smiled at each other again and Harry felt a thrill of anticipation.“Elton John and Queen, she said . “Those were James’s choices.” 

“Fleetwood Mac for for Lily, and an American singer named Billy Joel - calls himself the Piano Man.”

“And then James put on Eric Clapton,” said Lily dreamily.“A song called Wonderful Tonight.”

“I think most of those albums in in the attic,” whispered Harry to Ginny.“I’d like to listen to them all."

Dorcas sighed.“That’s so romantic”, she said.

“So did the talk happen before the music or after?” asked Lupin.

Again James and Lily exchanged a private look.Ginny sighed.“They’ve got it bad,” she said, and Harry could hear the smile in her voice.

“During,” Lily said finally.She touched James’s cheek.“Mostly during.”

Ginny leaned against Harry. “Can I mention that I suspect other things also happened ‘during’’? she asked.

“As long as you don’t get more specific than that,” said Harry. “They’re blushing enough as it is.”But even though he knew he was watching his parents, and that if circumstances had been quite different he might have been embarrassed, Harry couldn’t look away. He knew that anything that had happened between James and Lily while they were alone was gone forever, and while that made Harry sad, it also felt somewhat appropriate.There were things children shouldn’t know about their parents, he consoled himself.

“So I guess you don’t consider James an arrogant toerag anymore,” said Sirius with a smirk. Next to him, Marlene was nodding and It was clear that the two of them were not going to let James and Lily get away from spilling more details.Harry felt rush of gratitude. 

“Not a toerag, no,” said Lily with a grin.“We’re still working on the arrogance.”She looked at James. “Although I’ve discovered that a little extra confidence is actually a desirable characteristic in a Head Boy. She shuffled forward on the sofa so that she was almost sitting sideways in James’s lap and he scooped his arms under her and lifted her the rest of the way.“A couple of Slytherins didn’t want to listen to me last week,” she said.“But James didn’t give them any choice.”She leaned against James’s chest and he idly ran his hand up and down her back.

“Avery and Mulciber?” asked Lupin.Over Lily’s head, James nodded. “Lily’s brilliant as Head Girl,” he said.“Kept me from falling on my arse at least a dozen times already.But apparently some of my past behavior, not to mention the persistent rumors about the types of creatures I associate with, have proven useful.”

“Remember how those Lestranges used to ignore everything the Heads said?” asked Dorcas. “Charity Burbridge was a Muggleborn Hufflepuff and she had a terrible time getting all the Slytherins to behave.”

“They don’t give James the same sort of trouble,” agreed Lily.“And I’m grateful.”

“Ahh, gratefulness, so that’s how Prongs captured your heart,” said Sirius.“That’s remarkably romantic.”

Lily threw a pillow at Sirius while James made a rude gesture.“It’s much more than that!” she protested.She smiled a private little smile.“He grew up,” she said softly. 

“And I’ll be forever glad I did,” answered James.He leaned down to Lily and touched his lips to hers until they were interrupted by a mix of groans and applause. 

“Public kissing in the common room?” asked Lupin dryly.“Do we really need to see that?” 

“Best place for it,” answered James, leaning down to kiss Lily again.“Finally winning Lily over’s even better than winning the Quidditch Cup and I’ll kiss her in front of everyone whenever I can, to prove it.”

Harry felt a lump in his throat.“That’s how I felt about you,” he said thickly.“Although I wasn’t so obvious about it.” 

“No, kissing me for the first time in front of at least fifty people - including my brother - wasn’t obvious at all,” she said with a soft smile.She looked back at Harry’s parents.“But I get what you mean.After years of public pining, I suspect that James wanted everyone to know he and Lily were finally together.You were more circumspect about us.”

“I had a few more things on my mind back then besides snogging you,” agreed Harry.He pulled Ginny closer to him.“And I think that’s one place I’m more like my mum; it’s enough for me to know that you’re mine and I’m yours.”There was more cheering in the background and even though Harry knew it was his parents’ friends reacting to Lily and James kissing, as he found Ginny’s lips he let himself pretend for a moment that it was James and Lily and the rest who were watching Harry kiss his girlfriend, and that they were were thrilled about it.

Harry was still holding Ginny as they rose out of the Pensieve and for a moment it was disconcerting to be back in the still and quiet of the bedroom at Grimmauld Place.There was a crash of thunder; the earlier storms had returned.Carefully Harry replaced Sirius’s memories into their bottle and then put the bottle into the box next to Remus’s.“Their letter said they were going to leave me other memories,” he said, looking at the box where there were very obviously only two vials.“Do you think they ever did?”

“I don’t know,” said Ginny.“But I’ll help you tear the house apart looking for them whenever you want.” 

Harry felt a surge of emotion for his girlfriend.“I . . . I know you will,” he stuttered.“And even if we don’t find any more, these are more than I could have ever asked for.He buried his head in Ginny’s neck.“Someday we’ll be able to show our children how their grandparents fell in love.”It might have been a bold thing for Harry to say; he’d not asked Ginny to marry him yet, but there was no question between them that he would, and soon. Indeed, Ginny merely nodded into his chest.“We will,” she said with conviction.She looked up at Harry.“For now, do you want to try to find something to play some of that music?”

Harry nodded.“I would,” he said.“I’d like to hear the music my parents listened to.”He gave Ginny a squeeze.“Maybe snog to it too.”

“I won’t argue with that,” she said.

Up in the attic, it only took one well place _Accio_ to uncover Sirius’s old Muggle record player.Harry dusted it off and discovered it had been modified enough not to need any sort of electricity to work while Ginny spread out the albums all over the floor.It would take weeks to listen to everything, and Harry intended to do so.But for now he closed his eyes and said a spell he’d learned in the Aurors, one that helped categorize various pieces of evidence by importance using one’s subconscious instincts.It wasn’t perfect, but when Harry asked to listen to the song he’d like the best at that moment, a single record flew immediately out of its case and settled on the turntable.Harry looked at the album.

“Billy Joel, he said.“Piano Man.”He flipped open the cover to read the lyrics printed inside.As he and Ginny listened to the first few words, Harry quickly found the song.“It’s called ‘You’re My Home,’” he said.Ginny came over and sat in Harry’s lap while they listened.

When you look into my eyes

And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul

It always comes as a surprise

When I feel my withered roots begin to grow

Well I never had a place that I could call my very own

That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home

When you touch my weary head

And you tell me everything will be all right

You say, "Use my body for your bed

And my love will keep you warm throughout the night"

Well, I'll never be a stranger and I'll never be alone

Wherever we're together, that's my home

“That’s it,” said Harry quietly.“I don’t need a home, as long as I have you.” 

“You always will,” said Ginny, turning in Harry’s lap so that she was facing him.“And now you have bits of your parents with you too.”

“I’m so lucky,” Harry said, leaning in for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> A very special thanks to several people who held my hand very tightly while I made my first attempt writing Jily. You know who you are and I'm eternally grateful and suspect you've created a fan for life in that pairing. I hope I did it justice.


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